Sodium Alginate is extracted from brown seaweed. It is used as a stabilizer for ice cream, yogurt, cream, and cheese. It acts as a thickener and emulsifier for salad, pudding, jam, tomato juice, and canned products. It is a hydration agent for noodles, bread, cool and frozen products. In the presence of calcium and acid mediums, it forms resilient gels. It is a cold gelling agent that needs no heat to gel. It is most commonly used with calcium lactate or calcium chloride in the spherification process.
Calcium Chloride is a salt of calcium and chlorine. It is used as a sequestrant and firming agent. Calcium chloride is one of the primary ingredients in direct spherification. It is used in the setting bath to activate the sodium alginate. Due to it's extremely salty taste, it should not be used in reverse spherification.
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